Investing in uranium

[MichaelDes]

Dublin, 2nd December 2007

The most likely end use of any uranium extracted in Ireland would be for nuclear electricity generation. It would be hypocritical...

Also is must be hypocritical to be neutral in conflict but allow the logistics of conflict through Shannon etc. In the Shannon case, it is nothing but the government avoiding biting off of the hand which feeds it. Surely Uranium extraction is a very similar parallel that should be overcome. When oil spikes above $200 a barrel then Ireland will realise its dependency on others for energy, only then IMO will it wake up and smell the roses. But like the M50 it will be realised too little too late!!

Back pedaling will cost considerably larger amounts in the future to the Irish consumer. Politic of the day it seems, without thinking of the future.

 

[stir crazy]

Back pedaling will cost considerably larger amounts in the future to the Irish consumer. Politic of the day it seems, without thinking of the future.

Yeah but (if we actually have any) wont it be more valuable to future generations and increasing in value all the time we leave it there ?

 

[bungaloid]

Yeah but*(if*we*actually*have*any) wont it be more valuable to future*generations*and*increasing*in*value all the time we leave it there ?


The Minister has banned finding out if we have any. The right answer might be to leave it in the ground but he has banned the mere collection of data.

 

[GeneralZod]

Does anyone have any views on what will happen to the price of uranium if the United States drops its ban on the reprocessing of nuclear waste to extract usable material. I've seen forecasts of there being enough material to last billions of years if this is done.

 

[MichaelDes]

Does anyone have any views on what will happen to the price of uranium if the United States drops its ban on the reprocessing of nuclear waste to extract usable material. I've seen forecasts of there being enough material to last billions of years if this is done.

Any links GZ, would be interested to know more on this development??

 

[GeneralZod]

Any links GZ, would be interested to know more on this development??

I'm referring to breeder reactors. The physics has been known for decades but was mothballed in the US by President Carter due to fears of it being used for nuclear proliferation.

Here's an interesting brief write up of the history from 2006 Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: U.S. Policy Development

[broken link removed] processes are being worked on by the US Department of Energy.

 

[z101]

We cant ignore nuclear for much longer. America is starting to look at Thorium nuclear power now and so should we. It's waste manageable, non proliferation and far more plentiful than uranium.

 

[GeneralZod]

America is starting to look at Thorium nuclear power now and so should we.

I believe India is doing this too as they've Thorium reserves. The US is selling them technology as they're keen to ensure India can counter balance China.

 

[z101]

It would solve the Iran problem. or moreso the US's problem with them having nuclear problem.

 

[joe sod]

I have also heard of the potential of thorium, investors should remember that nuclear power and uranium are not joined at the hip, therefore i would not be betting the house on uranium, i think investing in nuclear technology itself rather than uranium is the better long term stategy. Nuclear power in theory can be extracted from any atom, it is just that so far uranium has been the easiest element to do it with. Many anti nuclear power activists mistakingly believe that nuclear power is dependant on uranium it isn't.

 

[bungaloid]

We cant ignore nuclear for much longer. America is starting to look at Thorium nuclear power now and so should we. It's waste manageable, non proliferation and far more plentiful than uranium.

very interesting Ceatharlach.

Why don't we apply for a Thorium prospecting license and see what the wise Minister Ryan does?

 

[GeneralZod]

very interesting Ceatharlach.

Why don't we apply for a Thorium prospecting license and see what the wise Minister Ryan does?

I read up a bit on this thorium business. It doesn't do away completely with the need for uranium and plutonium as you'd need too much thorium by itself to have enough neutrons to sustain the reactor.

The Minister needs to take a lesson from James Lovelock and accept nuclear as one of the range of alternatives to fossil fuels. Ultimately he or his successors have to or figuratively the lights of the economy will start to go out. It will be good for human health (respiratory diseases) and the environment when he accepts this. If you're in favour of nuclear you're on the winning team for the future. To develop as a civilization we'll need ever more energy and we're not going to get enough of that from wind, hydro, tidal & solar. We just have to generate our energy in ways that don't damage the environment.

 

[joejoe]

(1) i think you are giving up a lot of value by diversifying, not all parts of energy sector are the same. nuclear has been undercapitalised and wind is a fully subsidy dependent overcapitalised joke. i would like direct exposure to clean coal technology, what do you suggest?
(2) i believe that nuclear construction is going outperform everything else over next 5y. many plants will not come online for 10-15y (egypt just announced plans yesterday, for example) and therefore the rate of consumption of uranium is limited. uranium, by the way, is a relatively common element on earth. extraction technology will do well.
(3) all commodity markets are performing because of weak dollar. buying commodities at the moment is first and foremost a bet against the dollar.

what is clean coal?

joejoe

 

[Pexus1976]

Has anybody invested in uranium?

I have been reading reports that it is set to rocket in price in the coming months (please, no nuclear weapons jokes).

Does anyone have any tips on what the best play would be, and where to go to invest?

The most cost efficient way to invest would be through a ETF. This commodity seems to be very popular lately. Here a few interesting articles on Uranium.

“Uranium, after decades of being the unwanted stepchild of energy sources, is now likely to offer better percentage returns…than oil, gas or any other energy alternative,” says Doug Casey, the American commentator on natural resource investments.

Source Moneyweek

[broken link removed]

Mention uranium, and you are likely to provoke a variety of reactions. Some will remember only its *associations with nuclear power and the Chernobyl disaster of the 1980s. *Others will praise it as a practical fuel and an answer to climate change. But now another angle is emerging: uranium as an alternative investment vehicle.
Canny investors first began to take notice some years ago, when the price of uranium shot up from about $10 per pound in 2003 to more than $130/lb in 2007. The global financial meltdown sent it crashing down again, though it has hovered around the mid-$40s/lb ever since. But experts now believe recent developments could prompt serious price gains.

Source FT

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3123b600-3...44feabdc0.html

Uranium remains a highly emotive commodity. Mere mention of the heavy metal stokes up memories of the catastrophic accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. However, governments across the world, including in the UK, have concluded that nuclear energy produced from uranium is the only viable way to combat climate change and global warming.

Source Investors Chronicle

[broken link removed]